don’t know if it’s practical for outer space. The transvection might not work through the near vacuum of space. That’s why it’s here—to be tested.”
“And if it does work?”
Folger sighed. “If it does work, you can be certain the USAC will begin full-scale colonization of the planet. They won’t just be sending exiles and a garrison force. They’ll be out to equal and surpass the Russo-Chinese Colony. And you know what that will mean. People, machines, more domes, more Earth-things like crime and killing. Maybe even war between the two colonies.”
Frost pondered the words, and it seemed to him that what Folger said was true. An invention such as the transvection machine could mean the end of life as they knew it on Venus.
But it was the Bull who spoke first. “There is crime here already,” he said simply. “When you go out and rob for food, that is a crime. When we left our colonies to live here in the mountains together, we each committed a crime.”
“But these are not crimes against the planet,” Folger pointed out. “They are not crimes that soil the land, like pollution, nor rip it apart, like war.”
“Those need people,” Fergana agreed. “Great masses of people, arriving as fast as the transvection machine could bring them.”
Euler Frost nodded. It was Manitoba all over again. The rocketcopter had been the forerunner of a tide of industrial might geared to the rape of the land and the expulsion of the Indian. His father had died fighting against it. Now this transvection machine could do the same to the yet-unsoiled lands of Venus. “We can fight it,” he said quietly. “Destroy it.”
“But how?”
“You could guide us through the sentry posts,” Frost told Folger. “It would be simple after that.”
“Yes …”
They thought about it, making their plans, acting first only like children plotting some elaborate charade. In those early days it was doubtful if any of them except Frost really wanted to risk the freedom they’d so carefully won by launching an attack on a machine. “The thing might not even work,” someone argued. “Let’s wait till they test it before we think about destroying it.”
But Frost had too many memories of the machines of Earth. “Once they know it works on Venus, they’ll send a dozen of them up here—a hundred! It’ll be too late to destroy it then.”
The Bull nodded in agreement, but he said nothing. Finally it was decided they would wait until Folger’s next foray for food, in hopes he could learn more information.
But that night, late, Frost was awakened by Fergana at his side. “Euler, I can’t find the Bull! I think he’s gone alone to wreck the transvection machine!”
He was wide awake. “Let’s get Folger.”
The three of them searched quickly beneath the dome, but there were not that many places in which a person could hide. “His pressure suit’s gone,” Folger said at last. “I guess you’re right, Fergana.”
“How does he hope to do it?” she asked, more of herself than the others. “He doesn’t know how to get by the sentry posts.”
Frost placed a gentle arm on her shoulders. “I think somehow he’s doing it for you, Fergana. He wants to show you something.”
She looked up at him, and there were tears in her eyes.
They did not have long to wait before the Bull’s fate became clear to them. A party of USAC troops surrounded the dome at morning, flashing their lights like a dozen rising suns, and Frost gazed out through the plastic walls at the unfamiliar sight of laser guns and stunners. “We call upon you to surrender!” a voice boomed out through an amplified suit speaker. “In the name of the government of the United States and Canada, we demand your surrender!”
Folger cursed and scurried about for a weapon. He returned in a moment with two empty air tanks—slim metal cylinders that fit well into the hand and could pack a wallop if used against someone’s head. “Think we’ll get
“And if it does work?”
Folger sighed. “If it does work, you can be certain the USAC will begin full-scale colonization of the planet. They won’t just be sending exiles and a garrison force. They’ll be out to equal and surpass the Russo-Chinese Colony. And you know what that will mean. People, machines, more domes, more Earth-things like crime and killing. Maybe even war between the two colonies.”
Frost pondered the words, and it seemed to him that what Folger said was true. An invention such as the transvection machine could mean the end of life as they knew it on Venus.
But it was the Bull who spoke first. “There is crime here already,” he said simply. “When you go out and rob for food, that is a crime. When we left our colonies to live here in the mountains together, we each committed a crime.”
“But these are not crimes against the planet,” Folger pointed out. “They are not crimes that soil the land, like pollution, nor rip it apart, like war.”
“Those need people,” Fergana agreed. “Great masses of people, arriving as fast as the transvection machine could bring them.”
Euler Frost nodded. It was Manitoba all over again. The rocketcopter had been the forerunner of a tide of industrial might geared to the rape of the land and the expulsion of the Indian. His father had died fighting against it. Now this transvection machine could do the same to the yet-unsoiled lands of Venus. “We can fight it,” he said quietly. “Destroy it.”
“But how?”
“You could guide us through the sentry posts,” Frost told Folger. “It would be simple after that.”
“Yes …”
They thought about it, making their plans, acting first only like children plotting some elaborate charade. In those early days it was doubtful if any of them except Frost really wanted to risk the freedom they’d so carefully won by launching an attack on a machine. “The thing might not even work,” someone argued. “Let’s wait till they test it before we think about destroying it.”
But Frost had too many memories of the machines of Earth. “Once they know it works on Venus, they’ll send a dozen of them up here—a hundred! It’ll be too late to destroy it then.”
The Bull nodded in agreement, but he said nothing. Finally it was decided they would wait until Folger’s next foray for food, in hopes he could learn more information.
But that night, late, Frost was awakened by Fergana at his side. “Euler, I can’t find the Bull! I think he’s gone alone to wreck the transvection machine!”
He was wide awake. “Let’s get Folger.”
The three of them searched quickly beneath the dome, but there were not that many places in which a person could hide. “His pressure suit’s gone,” Folger said at last. “I guess you’re right, Fergana.”
“How does he hope to do it?” she asked, more of herself than the others. “He doesn’t know how to get by the sentry posts.”
Frost placed a gentle arm on her shoulders. “I think somehow he’s doing it for you, Fergana. He wants to show you something.”
She looked up at him, and there were tears in her eyes.
They did not have long to wait before the Bull’s fate became clear to them. A party of USAC troops surrounded the dome at morning, flashing their lights like a dozen rising suns, and Frost gazed out through the plastic walls at the unfamiliar sight of laser guns and stunners. “We call upon you to surrender!” a voice boomed out through an amplified suit speaker. “In the name of the government of the United States and Canada, we demand your surrender!”
Folger cursed and scurried about for a weapon. He returned in a moment with two empty air tanks—slim metal cylinders that fit well into the hand and could pack a wallop if used against someone’s head. “Think we’ll get
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